Chapter 16 #2
A slow smile spread across his face, and I caught a flash of yellow in his eyes as Bagheera stirred beneath the surface. "About being with Cam?" he whispered, and I nodded. "I loved it. The way he made me feel..."
I pressed a soft kiss to his chest, right over his heart. "I'm so glad. You deserve all the happiness in the world, Kai. You've been working yourself to exhaustion with the academy opening next week."
His arms tightened around me. "It's worth it, knowing we're creating something that will help troubled, young witches and mages. It'll be what Montague Industries could've been. Should have been."
I shivered, thinking about Asrael. "When are the rest of the new recruits arriving?" I could've just come right out and asked about her, but I held back. Kai knew me well enough to know exactly what I was asking.
"Fern arrived yesterday. Last I heard, she's settling in. Hunter's there, so at least she knows someone."
My estranged half-sister, Asrael's biological daughter, who I didn't even know existed a couple of months ago, was going to be a student at the facility that my father, Khol, and my mates had founded.
I hadn't met her yet. I wanted to, but Khol was firmly against it until Fern regulated her magic… and her attitude, apparently.
"I thought she threatened to kill Hunter the last time she saw him? In the holding facility?"
Kai chuckled. "Yeah, she fuckin' hates him. But she's going to have to get over it. It was either join our academy or go to prison."
"I'm sure she'll get used to it," I murmured, pressing a kiss against Kai's bare chest.
I jerked in his arms when a phone started going off, making everyone wake up.
Kai bolted upright so fast it made my head spin, his hand already reaching for his phone on the nightstand. The ringtone was sharp and insistent, cutting through the peaceful morning atmosphere like a blade.
"It's Khol," he said grimly, his thumb sliding across the screen. "This can't be good."
He put the phone on speaker as my father's voice filled the room, tense and authoritative in a way that made my stomach clench with worry.
"Kai, I need you and the others at the academy immediately," Khol's voice crackled through the speaker. "We have a situation."
Sloane and Bram were instantly awake, their years of training kicking in. I could see the alert tension in their bodies as they processed the urgency in my father's tone.
"What kind of situation?" Kai asked, already moving to grab clothes that were still scattered all over the room.
Before Khol could answer, Hunter's voice erupted in the background, loud enough that we could all hear his fury even through the phone. "I'm going to teach that little bitch a lesson she won't forget! AND I NEVER CALL WOMEN BITCHES! She can't just—"
"Hunter, stand down!" Khol's voice commanded, but I could hear the strain there.
My eyes went wide as realization hit me like a freight train. Fern. My sister had done something—something serious enough to have Hunter losing his mind and my father calling for emergency backup.
The bedroom door burst open, and Cam, Fischer, and Faris tumbled in, clearly having heard the commotion from the adjoining room. Cam's golden hair was disheveled, Fischer looked concerned, and Faris's eyes were bright with curiosity and worry.
"What's going on?" Cam demanded, his voice still rough with sleep but already shifting into his authoritative work mode.
"Academy emergency," Kai said tersely, pulling a shirt over his head. "Sounds like Fern's caused some trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" Fischer asked, his empathic abilities probably picking up on all our elevated emotions.
Through the phone, we could hear Hunter still ranting in the background, though his words were muffled now. Khol's voice came back, clearer and more controlled.
"Just get here as soon as possible. All of you. And Saige, you might want to stay—"
"I'm coming too," I interrupted, already reaching for my clothes. There was no way I was staying behind when this involved my sister, even if I'd never met her.
"We'll be there soon," Kai promised before hanging up.
The room erupted into controlled chaos as everyone scrambled to get ready.
"So much for an early morning round two," Faris said, pulling on his clothes and tossing a glance in my direction, then at my shredded dress on the floor. "Right. I'll be right back."
He was gone in the blink of an eye, probably bringing me non-destroyed clothes to wear. I hoped. Fingers crossed.
"Saige, I'm really not sure you should go. If she's spazzing out, it might not be the best time to meet her," Bram voiced as he pulled on his shirt.
"And she's mean as fuck," Sloane added, and I gave him a wide-eyed look. "No, seriously, Red. You thought I was mean when we first met? Fern is on another level. I'm not even sure she's capable of speaking without being insulting."
I shrugged just as Faris reappeared with the black shirt and matching black pants I'd changed out of last night, with a new sports bra and a fresh pair of undies.
"Thanks, love," I said, taking them out of his hands and giving him a quick kiss.
"I understand what you're saying, guys. I do.
But there's never going to be a good time to do this.
I know what it feels like to be out of control, as far as magic is concerned. I might be able to help."
There were noises of acceptance and only a few grumbles of apprehension, but I knew it wasn't because they doubted me. It was because they loved me. I pulled on the rest of my clothes and started putting on my shoes. "And so fuckin' what if she says mean stuff? I'm a tough witch, I can handle it."
Before meeting my mates, I definitely wouldn't have been able to handle it. But I was different now.
I knew my worth. I understood my power. I loved myself.
And when a woman finally figures out those three things, she's truly unstoppable.
"Let's roll, boys."
To be continued…